Aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that psychiatrists cannot reliably tell the difference between people who are sane and those who are insane.
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Experiment 1
To test whether psychiatric staff can distinguish sanity and insanity
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Experiment 2
To test whether staff could reverse a diagnosis from insane to sane
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Experiment 1
Method: Designs Participant observation
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Participants
8 people 5 men 3 women acted as pseudopatients, real patients where the hospital staff who were unaware about the experiment, they all tried to get into 12 different mental institutions around the USA
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IV
The made up symptoms of the pseudo patients
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DV
The psychiatrist’s admissions and diagnostic label of the pseudopatient
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Setting
12 psychiatric hospitals
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Procedure
The pseudopatient called the hospital for an appointment. When they arrived they complained that they were hearing voices saying ‘empty’ ‘hollow’ and ‘thud’ they were unclear and unfamiliar. The pseudopatients then gave false identities, occupati
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Procedure
Once they had been admitted on the ward they then stopped pretending symptoms and behaved normally and wrote observations. Initially the daily records were written in secret but then written openly as nobody seemed to care. The pseudopatients were th
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Results of Experiment 1
Upon admission staff diagnosed 11 pseudopatients with schizophrenia and one with manic-depressions, Staff never detected their sanity. The average stay of a patient was an average of 19 days.
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Results of Experiment 1
Visits to the pseudo patients showed no serious behavioural consequences. 35 real patients at the institutions detected that the pseudo patients were sane. The behaviour of the pseudo patients were misinterpreted. In the institutions the patients fac
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Experiment 2
Design: Observation
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Settings
Research and teaching hospital where staff doubted such an error could happen
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Participants
Hospital Staff
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IV
False information
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DV
The number of patients staff suspected as being pseudopatients
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Procedure
Staff told that hospital would admit one more pseudopatient in the next three months
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Procedure
For every new patient each staff member rated the likelihood that they were a pseudo-patients. There were infant no pseudo-patients and all were real patients
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Results
Many of the patients were labelled as pseudopatients
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Conclusions
Rosenhan explains that the study demonstrates that psychiatrists cannot reliably tell between the sane and insane. As the first experiment shows failure to detect sanity whilst the second experiment showed failure to detect insanity.
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Conclusions
Rosenhan suggested that we should focus more on the individual’s specific problems and behaviours instead of labelling
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Evaluation
It was a form as a field experiment so therefore has ecological validity whilst there was control over variables such as the pseudopatients’ behaviour.
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Evaluation
The results can also be generalised as a range of hospitals were used with different characteristics
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Evaluation
The hospital staff were deceived which breaks the ethical rules in psychology The experiences of the pseudopatient were not valid as their symptoms were faked the study showed the limitations posed in many psychiatric hospitals and also the grim con
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
To test whether psychiatric staff can distinguish sanity and insanity
Back
Experiment 1
Card 3
Front
To test whether staff could reverse a diagnosis from insane to sane
Back
Card 4
Front
Method: Designs Participant observation
Back
Card 5
Front
8 people 5 men 3 women acted as pseudopatients, real patients where the hospital staff who were unaware about the experiment, they all tried to get into 12 different mental institutions around the USA
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